Into Designer Mowalola Ogunlesi’s Unapologetic Vision of Nigerian-Rooted Sexuality

CONTENT WARNING: use of profanity

“What do I want to see?” Mowalola Ogunlesi once asked.

In recent years, Ogunlesi’s iconic world of dynamics within fashion has stormed the international art scene. Her world is defined by a long list: 70’s rock, music, motocross jackets, leather, skin, psychedelia, anger, and creation that defies the gender binary. However, Mowalola doesn’t define herself by a list of words; she translates herself and her vision into reality – through clothing, fine art, and installation. A month before her first show, she continued to ask:

“You’re designing for the world you want[...] Every time I design, there’s a purpose [...] My vision for what I want can’t be replicated.”

Ogunlesi’s words perfectly summate the concept of her brand MOWALOLA, but it also describes her philosophies in art-making and the evolution of her career. Ogunlesi has continued to transcend limits, from her first partnership with Yeezy after an industry breakthrough with “Psychedelic” and debut film “Silent Madness,” all the way back to her upbringing and childhood in Lagos.

Born in 1995 in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, Ogunlesi was always surrounded by fashion. Her father worked in traditional Nigerian menswear, and her mother specialized in childrens’ clothes, working on a line started by Ogunlesi’s Scottish grandmother, who moved to Nigeria in the 1960s.

Ogunlesi attests her ability to think freely to her parents, who taught her how to create a sense of style that was uniquely hers.

“Whenever we’d go out and go shopping…[my mom would] always tell me, ‘What do you think?’ and that would really piss me off [...] But then I realized she was just trying to get me to figure out what I liked as a person in general, so I wouldn’t be looking at other people to see what I need to look like or what I need to do or say or wear,” Ogunlesi said.

Though her home country was where Ogunlesi’s artistic pursuit began, she noted in an interview with SSENSE that the environment continued to be limited in fashion, describing it as “a very money-driven society.”

“Being in Nigeria, I was kind of cut off from the rest of the world. I didn’t have Wi-Fi, I only saw what I saw on TV [...] In Nigeria, they just don’t see fashion as something worth even spending money on[...].”

When she was 12, Mowalola moved to Surrey, England, where she attended an all-girls Catholic boarding school. Mowalola told VOGUE that those years of her childhood were especially challenging because she was the only black girl in her year; the extreme lack of diversity made it hard to express herself. She said she needed that time in her life to understand who, and what, she wanted in her life. After graduating from boarding school, she moved to London to get her Bachelor of Arts in fashion textile at renowned fashion university, Central Saint Martins.

Her final graduation collection at Central Saint Martins put her into the spotlight of the fashion industry. Presented as a lookbook in 2017, Ogunlesi’s collection is an ode to afrofuturism, which describes African culture met with the aesthetic of modern technology, portrayed through the VR-style sunglasses and flashy textures. It’s also characterized by exposure; a raw look into skin and free spirit, tied back to the fresh nuances and environment of her home, Lagos. Ogunlesi launches her creative career with rebellion; she experimented with a discussion on mens’ sexuality and how a man should be viewed. The collection was inspired primarily by the psychedelic- and prog-rock style of Nigeria’s ‘70s rock scene and Lagos’s car-obsessed “petrol heads.” Ogunlesi weaves elements of her heritage into a criticism on menswear “rules” and social norms revolving around the gender binary, a collection ultimately titled “Psychedelic.”

The garments themselves are provocative, yet playful. Male models are featured wearing skin-exposing tops, hi-slung straight-leg pants, cropped jackets, hypnotic prints, and leathers in a variation of colors. Ogunlesi personally described the line as “unapologetically black and pan-African,” the celebration of the black African male; filled with culture, sexuality, and desires. She wanted to address the conservative sexual ideals of Nigeria, but more broadly, how black sexuality is internationally viewed and discussed.

“I go back to Lagos all the time…Masculinity has transcended what the old generation declared it was… It really makes me happy that this is happening and changing and people aren’t so afraid to be themselves.”

Ogunlesi’s world, tapped in first by “Psychedelic,” only marked the beginning of a career full of party-style vividity and genderfluid design. As a part of a new flood of young British ethnic minorities in the arts, the collection demonstrated her first maverick act against norms of the 21st century, along with creatives like designers Priya Ahluwalia and Bianca Saunders.

After a year of intending to continue her MA studies at CSM, Ogunlesi decided to drop out. She told SSENSE that the college was “just a bit too dated,” not having much representation of non-white faculty. However, what Ogunlesi truly wanted was a pursuit of creative freedom and license for her own work.

She remarked about her experience at the college. “I realized I didn’t want to work for somebody, that I wanted to explore my own vision[...] they weren’t understanding what I was trying to do.¨

Ogunlesi’s first fashion show was in partnership with Fashion East, a nonprofit organization that supports young designers by giving them a platform to show their work off at London Fashion Week. She made her London Fashion Week debut in January 2019, where she showed womenswear for the first time. The theme was a showcase of both physical and emotional expression, and included Ogunlesi’s signature use of leather and gender-fluidity. Models wore sculpted leather jackets with cut-outs and skinny leather pants. Some even posed with blood on their hands. Celebrities including Solange and Skepta sat front row at the show.

She said that while her first collection was centered around African psychedelic, this one romanticized rock and 80s electronic music, taking inspiration from the Nine Inch Nails song “Closer.” She stated, “the mindset of these songs is exactly where I’m at with this collection [...] This collection is about being exposed. It’s about being dangerous. It’s violent, but it’s also provocative.”

Ogunlesi described her pieces as unisex, and influenced by her country. She told Vogue UK, “I’m Nigerian, so whatever I create is automatically going to be Nigerian work. I don’t feel like I have to brand myself as ‘the African designer.’ [...] At the end of the day, I’m just a designer making shit that I want to make.”

Ogunlesi made an appearance at London Fashion East’s show again in June 2019, a collection titled ‘Coming For Blood.’ She presented glossy leather jackets customized with spray-painted art, leather suits, halter dresses, moto jackets, and pieces made from neon-green and brown cowhide. She added a bloody gunshot to a few of the pieces, meant to symbolize the danger of falling in love.

Singer Drake wore an Ogunlesi-custom leather jacket, spray painted with an illustration of the character Jinx from the 2002 James Bond movie “Die Another Day.”
(Photo: Theo Skudra)

Naomi Campbell also wore one of Ogunlesi’s white halterneck dresses that featured a gunshot wound to the Fashion for Relief show in Sep 2019, to which was met by controversy. To clear this up, Ogunlesi took to Instagram to state:

“This dress is extremely emotional to me – it screamed by lived experience as a black person. It shows no matter how well dressed you are or well behaved, we are time after time seen as the walking target…Inequality is still rife and newspapers clawing at my work is testament to that.”

Recently, Ogunlesi’s philosophy and design has attracted the likes of pop culture celebrity and singer Kanye West. In June of 2020, it was revealed that Ogunlesi would be leading the Yeezy x Gap partnership’s design team. The initial news about Yeezy and Gap’s partnership sparked conversation about the future for both companies; attention then turned to Mowalola Ogunlesi, chosen by West himself for the collaboration. West had been a longtime fan of Ogunlesi; it was rumored even in 2018 that they would be working together in some capacity. The talk about Ogunlesi’s name in the industry has attracted many new fans of both her and the MOWALOLA brand through social media, especially due to the collaboration’s support of a black, female designer.

However, Ogunlesi’s collaborative works with others doesn’t stop at Kanye West. In 2019, she was chosen as one of the six designers to dress Barbie for Barbie’s 60th anniversary. She showed at Arise Fashion Week in Lagos, Nigeria, styled models in Skepta’s “Pure Water” music video, and has been picked up by retailers including SSENSE and Dover Street Market.

Ogunlesi has long marveled about the strong influence and impact of people on her work. Since the start of her career, she has built a community of friends and collaborators that push her to experiment and create herself through work, stating she wants “to work with people who challenge [her].” Her circle consists of photographer Ruth Ossai, Nigerian rapper Odunsi (The Engine), model Adesuwa Aighewi, and many more.

She said to SSENSE, “ It’s really important to have more control about how your story is told…. It’s your art, it’s your baby, don’t just give it to anyone. It’s special.”

Ogunlesi always makes sure to emphasize representation in every one of her works. She explained that the only highlighted black designers she knew growing up were Puff Daddy for Sean John and Kimora Lee Simmons of Baby Phat. It wasn’t until she saw Grace Wales Bonner’s show in university that she saw a runway completely made up of black models.

However, it’s arguable that the main catalyst for Ogunlesi’s work is music. Music, music people, artists, singers like Fela Kuti, Parliament, Prince, Andre 3000, and Jimi Hendrix. Ogunlesi has stated that her inspirations mostly come from “film, music, and people.” Psychedelic rock and the Nine Inch Nails inspired both of her first two collections. She was a percussionist for years in boarding school, and music still offers another way to express herself through art and through fashion.

“The energy I get from listening to certain songs kind of takes over and transcends what I’m thinking about and allows me to really be free. And I feel like that’s when I create the best.”

Ogunlesi has no interest in the industry timetable of two collections a year, one every 6 months. Ogunlesi told Kaleidoscope, “I also think for your mental health, having to put so much of yourself into your work every 6 months is a lot. You need time to stop and think, ‘Okay, what do I want to do next?’ Otherwise, everything becomes work – even creating becomes work – and then it shows in the clothes.”

Instead, Ogunlesi wants fashion to be enjoyed in the same way an album is, from a more eco-friendly standpoint, criticizing the way that fashion is quickly recycled, season after season, while music can be enjoyed for years on end.

In March 2020, she released a fashion film and installation exhibit titled “Silent Madness,” making it a point to not limit herself to fashion, but to explore other creative outlets as well. Over the years, her career has become most apparent and recognizable in the various ways she pushes creativity. Ironically, she stated that the gallery was where she always envisioned her work being shown, rather than the runway. When NOW gallery reached out in spring of 2020, asking for a project for their fashion collaborator program, Ogunlesi quickly took action and with just a week turnaround, she developed Silent Madness. The project won against 5 other designers for the opportunity.

The “Silent Madness” exhibit in December 2019 brought the year to a close. She created a stage of rock band mannequins, sporting her brand’s bodysuits and surrounded by printed fabrics.

Ogunlesi say that she “[doesn’t] see a big difference” between Silent Madness and her usual work. “I’m always thinking with an art mind, even since I was in secondary school. Fine art is what I studied first. I didn’t study fashion. I was just really creating – I didn’t even want to study fashion. I was just like, ‘I’m going to do what I like and see what happens.’”

When AnOther Magazine asked what’s next for Ogunlesi within the month of the exhibition, she said that she “might not even be doing fashion in a year.”

“I’m just on a journey and whatever happens, I’m with it. I think people are trying to make me go in a certain way [...] I’m going to do what is good for me because at the end of the day I have myself, and I need to take care of her.”

In a 21st-century world of mundanely rotating trend cycles and a higher fashion competition than ever before, Mowalola Ogunlesi is always miles away from the norm. She continuously strives to influence the conversation even further past the topic of fabric. From her industry breakthrough with “Psychedelic” to leading Yeezy x Gap and persistent display in her beliefs, inspirations, and self, Ogunlesi is taking strides along her own path. In the roots of her design, lies not only a talk of gender boundaries and Nigerian heritage, but also anger. Anarchy and individuality lies at the heart of her design, and is what keeps breaking the ice.

“The anger is pushing me to do more of what I want to do. In fashion, everything can make you angry. WIth people biting off your techniques or ideas. But I really couldn’t give a fuck. My vision for what I want can’t be replicated.”